


Take Pride in What is Sure To Die

by rydellon



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Panic Attacks (Mentioned but not in detail), Phone Calls & Telephones, Voicemail, it's real soft, mark studies at uoft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-07 21:31:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18240425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rydellon/pseuds/rydellon
Summary: “I don’t hate you.”Donghyuck blanked.The roof of the school had been quiet, Donghyuck being the only one who dared going up there at any point in time. Being honest, the custodians didn’t really care that much as long as he wasn’t that disruptive and didn’t leave any garbage, but Donghyuck still made sure to go at times when they weren’t around.“W-what?” he stuttered out, and Mark took a step closer.“I don’t hate you,” he repeated.





	Take Pride in What is Sure To Die

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moorauders](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moorauders/gifts).



> this is like... a half vent fic half im >:( about something thats happening to one of my friends and needed to write them something fic so,,, take from it what you will.
> 
> unbeta'd, as always hah
> 
> happy 51st fic!!

“I don’t hate you.”

 

Donghyuck blanked.

 

The roof of the school had been quiet, Donghyuck being the only one who dared going up there at any point in time. Being honest, the custodians didn’t really care that much as long as he wasn’t that disruptive and didn’t leave any garbage, but Donghyuck still made sure to go at times when they weren’t around.

 

“W-what?” he stuttered out, and Mark took a step closer.

 

“I don’t hate you,” he repeated.

 

“Mark? Why are you—”

 

“I listened to the voicemails.”

 

Donghyuck sucked in a breath quickly and almost blacked out. Oh, that’s right. He had just been hyperventilating. 

 

“I really…” Mark paused, “I really didn’t know you felt like this Hyuck you could have—” 

 

“Could I?” Donghyuck cut him off, “sorry.”

 

“No, continue,” Mark prompted, but Donghyuck fell silent.

 

Instead he watched the wind whip around Mark’s face, the setting sun wrapping his black hair in a halo of gold, further solidifying Donghyuck-of-a-year-ago’s theory that Mark was the guardian angel heaven had sent for him.

 

“You were leaving,” Donghyuck said. “You were leaving and all I could do was watch because it’s college and it’s always been your dream and I knew I couldn’t be the one to hold you back from doing what you loved. I knew I couldn’t be that kind of burden to you. So I left the voicemails.”

 

“Hyuck I— why my old phone?”

 

“Just because they exist didn’t mean I wanted you to find them.”

 

Mark took another step closer and—when had he gotten so close—enveloped Donghyuck in a hug, squeezing him like he didn’t know when he would get to hug him again.

 

Donghyuck coughed and Mark let him go.

 

He plopped down beside the younger, and now both of them were watching the sun set. It was almost below the top of the school’s wall from where Donghyuck was sitting, but he knew it would be higher from Mark’s perspective.

 

“My year has been…” Mark started, “less than stellar. I left you guys to pursue my dream but I… I don’t really have any friends at college? I don’t talk to anybody in my courses and my roommate is always at his girlfriend’s house staying over, so I’ve barely met him. I always stay in my room doing homework and when I do go out it’s to the library and I always use one of those solitary study pods. I’ve been glad to come back to Korea because in a weird way it felt like coming home more that going back to Toronto had felt, even though I was born there and everything. But, I think I figured it out. As soon I got back to Korea and re-activated my phone plan and number and saw all the voicemails… What I’m missing in Canada is my family. And not my biological family, but Jisung and Chenle and Jeno and Jaemin and Renjun and Lucas and everybody else. And I’m missing the most important person to me, the person who I… the only person non-blood related who has ever meant this much today, and even then it goes above and beyond.”

 

Mark turns his head to face Donghyuck, and Donghyuck sees the sun reflected in his eyes as he utters his last word.

 

“You.”

 

Donghyuck exhales slowly, and Mark leans a little bit closer.

 

“Yeah, as great as Canada is, nothing can ever be as great as you, Lee Donghyuck.”

 

Donghyuck almost cries again. This was the first time he had heard Mark say his name after so long and it just felt… amazing; like a breath of fresh air or like coming home or like millions of other metaphors that could be used to describe the feeling that was blooming in his chest, wrapping itself around his heart and squeezing tight.

 

Mark turns to look at him again, leaning a little bit closer and closer until…

 

“I love you Donghyuck.”

 

He pressed his lips lightly to Donghyuck’s and Donghyuck scrambled to get his bearings, grabbing onto Mark’s pants and pulling away for just long enough to swing himself onto Mark’s lap.

 

“I never thought I’d get to do this again, god I was so scared you hated me and that was why you were ignoring me,” Donghyuck pressed his lips to Mark’s.

 

“I was scared nothing would be the same, that you would fly off to Ew-off-Tee—(Mark laughs, “U of T Duckie”)—and forget about me, and us. Find some nice Canadian girl to settle down with and never look back,” Mark leaned up and pressed his lips to Donghyuck’s this time, Donghyuck wrapping his arms around Mark’s neck and pulling himself that much closer.

 

“Never. I could never forget about you Duckie, and I’ll always come back to you. I actually…” Mark paused, “I’m doing a transfer program and I’ll be studying in Korea for a semester so… I’ll be here for the next few months.”

 

Donghyuck shrieked, throwing himself into Mark’s neck and hugging him tight enough to cut off most of his circulation.

 

“You’re going to be here!” Donghyuck cries, and Mark nods.

 

“I’ll still be studying and stuff, but I’ll be here for the whole spring semester, which means 15 weeks that you get to bother me about your freshman work.”

 

Donghyuck pouts and Mark barks out a laugh.

 

“We’ll be here together,” Mark whispers, and Donghyuck presses his lips to Mark’s again, reviling in the moment and the fact that he’ll get time with Mark in the coming months. Of course, he still has the fall semester to wait, but he’s sure he can manage; technology is an amazing tool.

 

For now, him and Mark stay on the roof, watching as the stars appear above their heads one by one and exchanging soft kisses before they sneak off of the roof and out of the school, walking hand and hand back to Mark’s old house, which he has to himself for the moment, his parents having sent him to Korea alone.

 

“I texted my mom. She knows I’m staying over,” Donghyuck said, bouncing up the steps.

 

“How do you know you’re staying over?” Mark teases, pulling out his keys and unlocking the door, watching Donghyuck slip off his shoes happily, sliding into the house in his socks.

 

He comes in after, closing the door and turning the lock before walking to the kitchen and grabbing him and Donghyuck a snack.

 

He grabbed a takeout container from the fridge and put it in the microwave, heating it up before grabbing some chopsticks and heading upstairs to his bedroom, where he knew Donghyuck would be.

 

“Food!” Mark cried, sitting down on his bed next to Donghyuk, who grabbed a set of chopsticks and the container, pulling it into his lap.

 

The two ate in silence for a while before Donghyuck piped up.

 

“I’m glad you got the voicemails hyung. I really am.”

 

Mark hummed. 

 

“I’m glad I decided to come find you. I wasn’t really planning on it before because I didn’t know if you wanted to seem me but I’m glad I did. Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing this right now.”

 

Mark pressed his lips onto Donghyuck’s, grabbing the empty take-out container and putting it on his bedside table before pulling Donghyuck further onto the bed, lips still locked.

 

They lay beside each other for the rest of the night—Mark pulling the covers over them at one point—sharing soft kisses and cuddling, happy to stay in the moment, but also looking forward to the future. 

**Author's Note:**

> To the reader of this fic,
> 
> Hope this wasn't too much of a mess, yeah? I hope you enjoyed it, and I am always open to criticism and anything, as well as any ideas for things that I should write instead of what I'm currently doing, which is nothing lol.
> 
> Seriously hope you enjoyed! Have a good day!
> 
>  
> 
> To Moorauders,
> 
> My offer to fight is still open, one text, name and address, that's all it takes.
> 
> I'm always happy to write for you, or write something for you, so anything you want written honestly just come to me with it (unless you want to do it yourself haha).
> 
> Watch out for yourself when I'm not there, yeah? Don't get on public transport, don't do stupid things, and don't listen to cockroaches of people when they tell you things that aren't true.
> 
> Love you!!


End file.
